House fire takes life of Price woman

An early morning fire in a home in the Castle Heights area took the life of a Price woman on Tuesday morning.

Price Fire Chief Paul Bedont said in an interview later that morning that the department was notified about 2 a.m. that a call had come into dispatch indicating that someone in the house could smell something hot.

"As we (were) en route to the address we got an update that the house was on fire," he said. "When we got here it was burning out of control."

While still under investigation, the fire appears to have started in a back bedroom of the upper floor of the home. Reports came from witnesses that oxygen tanks were exploding during the fire.

"She was on oxygen and there were tanks in the house, but we don't know if we had any explode or not. Some certainly vented during the event however," stated Bedont.

Killed in the fire was Carol Seeley, 68.

Two young girls who were sleeping in the basement escaped from the home through a basement window. They were sent to Castleview Hospital for treatment.

"I am not sure what happened to them; they could have had smoke inhalation," stated Bedont.

The fire basically destroyed the house. Even though one end of it was relatively undamaged by the fire, smoke went everywhere. Fire fighters acted as quickly as they could because they were told someone was in the home.

"I took us about 15 minutes to get the fire knocked down," said the chief.

Tuesday morning the Utah State Fire Marshall's Office was on scene investigating along with Price officials. The state office investigates every fire where a death occurs.

The official cause of the fire has not been determined, but it appears the blaze was accidental. Initial estimates place the damage at $80,000, but it could go higher.